There were plenty of favorable opinions when Microsoft announced its Games on Demand service for Xbox Live a few months ago, but now those days of contentment, and even praise, from the consumers seem far gone.

The reason? In countries outside of the United States, customers are being charged far higher prices than Americans for the exact same game.

Kotaku Australia did a bit of snooping around to find out why. Hit the jump to see what they found.

In Australia, Mass Effect costs 6000 Microsoft Points (equivalent to AU$99!), whereas Americans only have to fork out 1600 MS Points. Kotaku Australia decided to see why Aussie Microsoft isn’t being as generous fair as its international counterparts. This is what they had to say:

“No one retailer has the lowest pricing for every product, and our program is about giving people 24 x 7 convenience and selection when shopping for Xbox 360 games.

We’re incredibly excited about what Games on Demand means for digital distribution, and will continue to evaluate and evolve the service to meet market and consumer demands.” – Microsoft Australia

Despite aforementioned convenience, Microsoft may need to alter their pricing when they realize Mass Effect retails for less than AU$50 in all Australian major outlets.

I think even the US prices are pretty ridiculous since I could buy most of these games used for much less and have the physical media in hand. I was excited for a couple of the older games that can be hard to find, but not at these prices!